TWA Skyliner Magazine, 1935-12-01_13

•
TWA in Retrospect;
Forward into 1936!
Airsurance Recognizes
Safety of Air Travel
December, 1935
,
...
The Management wishes to go
further than simply expressing
the trad itional wish for a Merry
Christmas and a Happy New
Year to each and every member
of the TWA family. It takes this
means to express its cordial ap­preciation
for the many accom­plishments
during 1935 which
have been made possible by a
spirit of outstanding coopera­tion.
Your loyalty and the giving of
so much of yourself to TWA is
sincerely appreciated and it is
our hope that through that satis­faction
of work done to the best
of your ability, you will find many
reasons for making merry this
Christmas and New Year.
JACK FRYE.
MARiffiE BENNE! SPENCER LIBRAR'
of Kansas Cfty Museum
Publishnl by TRA?\SCOr-:TI?\ENTAL & WEST I~R .\ AIR, Inc.,
1775 B roadway
New York
Vol. I DECEMBER, 1935 No.3
TWA t•n
Onwa'ld into 1936/
Y annual re1 ie11 of air transportation is in itself a
record of man's successful attempt to overcome the
few remainin~ harriers \l'hich nature set up even
before the days of Adam and Eve.
A review of TvVA's record of prog ress in particular
during the )Car 1931 rea lizes the ambition of its manage­ment
to have the Co mpan~ come up in tr:lnsport histo ry
with an outstanding n·corcl of achievement in the scientific
dc1·clopm(·nt of flight during the )car just coming to a close.
At the beginning of the~ car T\V A was reaping the bcne­lits
deri1·ed from the estab li~hme n t of the first O\ ernight
coast to coast H'n icc in rhi" country, perfected in the Fall
of the preceding )Car. The linking together of the l'astl)
~cparatcd citie~ on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts with
0\ ernight ~chcd ulrs. wa~ the out~tanding development in
air transport in 193-l-. E1cn after eighteen months of opera­tion.
there arc -.till people who marvel at the very idea. and
in thi~ categon 11 c CH'n include passengers "·ho ha1·e
cro:>sed the continent 01 crnight with us.
\Vith this rich inheritance from the year before. the
Compan~ :.et about at the beginning of 1935 to ::.afeguard
it~ em iable po:-ition before the 11 orld as the fastest sen·ice
from coast to coa>-t, h1 refining its service to make it more
attracti,·e to the public, h) adding additional comforts to
air tra1·el and h, raising it$ ~chcdu l e performance to a new
high le1 el. Th:;t these amhitions were attained in part at
h·a-.t cluring tlw lir-.t ~i' montlh of 1031, i-. n·nt"cted in tlw
increase of the number of pa:-~engcr~ carried during the fir~t
and secund quarters, as well as mail and expre!'s poundage.
D urintr the second quarter, the passengers carried jumped
70.56', over the first quarter. M ail poundage showed a
137r increa~c over the first quarter and expre.~s 8.30/{ in­crease.
Tu provide for thi!> additional patronage, the
revenue miles Oown was increased from 1,680,777 miles in
the first quarter to 2,~50. +8 1 miles the second quarter,
repre~en tin tr :m increa~c of 33' ( .
During the third quarter, the curve continued upward,
with pas~t· n gcr~ sho11 ing a I 2. I 0% increase O\'er the second
quarter, and mail 1 olume increa~ing 9.69', . At the end
of tlw third quarter. the Cumpan~ announced in its Report
of Re-.ults for the nine month~ ending September 30, 1935,
a net prolit of ~212.288.08 after depreciation, interest,
taxc,. and other charges.
That T\ \'A dominates the lleld in transcontinental travel
i-. not onh C\ idenct·d b1 the fact that it leads in the ,·olumc
of throu~h coast to coast patronage, but also by the fact that
the a\"(•rage di~tance tra,·eled per pal'.~enger on T\V A is the
highe .. t on record; name!), 9-j..j. miles.
Since 1931, 369 employes ha1e been added to T\VA':.
pa) roll. r n 193 I the number of people employed \\"aS 579;
in I 932. 66-l-; in 19.33. 7 I 8, and in 193-l-, 680. There are
no11 a total of 9-l-8 t•mployes in the organization.
\ Vhile n·port:. for the lir~t clnen months on the number
of rt'l'<·nue pa•H'ngc·r~ carri('d are :t1•ailahle, T\V A will
I ra n ~potl !1101 (" I han Ml,OOO pa-,sl"ngns j I) I en 'i. 'J 'he :tl't ll:t I
li~ure:> for th(' t·lt'\L' Il months arc (J2,26.J.. The foll owi n~
DECEMBER. 1935
table show:- the number of rc1 enue passengers carried and
the mail poundagr tran"poned, !931 to 1935:
.Y 11111hl'r ,,_{ .11 ail
Ret't'lllll' P()unds
Passr11gers Carrird
1931 .............. 37,7)7 591,0+7
1932 •• 0 0 •••• 0 0 •••• 2'i,+l3 1,150.176
1933 .............. 33,913 l.IJJ,+OI
193+ .............. 36.225 796,911
I 935 ( II m<mth~) ... 62,26+ 1,+1+,638
Continuing it~ march uf progress with thing:: that ha\'c
to do 11 ith th(' mr:chanical ~ide of aircraft operation, the
Company withd rcw from se rvicc the li rst Douglas trans­port
ever hui lt, the noll' internationally-known 300, and
turned it into a "llying" lnbor:ttory." This famous plane,
which had gone about thr country establishing transconti­nental
and intt'r-city records. is domiciled at the Company's
<.prrating hal\C at Kar1s;1s Cit) and during the year has
achieved additional fame on numerable Rights made solei)
in the intere~t of rc~t·arch and development. Cited among
its memorable flight~ during the year is the non-stop flight
from California to 1ew York in April, when a new record
for transport plane" was established- 11 hours and 5
minutes; Pilot Tomlinson as flight engineer and Pilots
Senad and Redpath, piloting, na1·igating and making ohser­,
·ations.
On :\!a) 16th and 18th, the "Fh·ing Laboratory" piloted
b1 Tomrm Tom I in son nnd Joe lh rtles. broke six world
:>peed reco;<h, three America~ records and e$tablished eight
American record~.
SPEED
Leading all other transport opemtors in research de,·elop­rnrnt
with the laboratcH) plane, a substratosphere flight was
underwken in hetween Kansas Cit1 and ~ e11· York. On
this flight numerou~ ne11 aid-; to flyi-ng were tested h~ Pilot:-.
Tomlinson and Hull. It \\' <ls one of the first flight:- made
with thr ne11 con"tnnt -peed propeller. The two \ V right
Cyclone engines were "peciall) ~uperchargecl to a ~rcond
critical altitude of 16,000 feet and for the first time the ne11
fuel-air mrio nnaly~er wa~ gi1·en a thorough test. The
s~ ndnoscopr, recrntl) prrfrctcd b) the Radio Dcp:1rtmenr
of T\VA, 11' <1~ thoroughly tested and on the rcrurn Aight to
K:1n··as Cit). the entire Aight was made under the hood,
using the homing compass :1s a guide. Practicall~ all of
these devices, te~ted and proved valuahle to nir navigation
in the labontt<H') plane, arc today standard equipmt'nt on
TWA's llet·t of Douglas trnnsports. In recognition of the
Company's advanced thinking and planning in the field of
aeronautical rcsenrch. T\ V f\ has led all transport operators
in first C"\perirnenring with and then adopting new mechan­ical
ideas as the,· developed. Its route was selected first h1·
the Bureau of Air Commerce to install instrument appronch
landing~. a device which heralds the day when transports
will take off and land ll'hen clouds or fog engulf the air­port.
T\ VA·~ enginrers hal'e been cooperating with the
Department of Commerce in the perfection of the propeller
de-icers, a new device ll'hich prevent~ the formation of ice
on propeller blades. Coincident with the announcement of
the perfection of thi~ de1·ice hr the Department of Com­merce,
T \ VA announced orders had hecn placed for the
"~linger-rin(!:," the popular nmne g-iven to it. for all of its
plane:-. Installations are being made as rapidly as possible.
From the Radio Depnrrment came an outstanding de­(
Continued on page +)
0~\VARD INTO I<JJ6
Trim, shi11y nllfl mt·rllrllliml/y fwr(rrt, T/1',/'s (lir gia11/S await tl11ir lur11 in lint• ''' writr tii'W rhaptrrs in air trfiiiS­porl
history.
2
11 /Jl•da'u;.ncr/' J<flctt9nlJfl~
tt'U /}LT havfll
Uut!erwritas ljsue Xrw Form of l nsurnure for .lir Line
Trm•pfl'f"s ChMpl'r Than au A IIJ" Ot/zpr Form of
Transport
T I IE mo,t ~ub~tantial recognition ever given the
safety of air tranliportation in the United States has
been made b) a ~roup of companies which have an­nounced
effective January I, 1936, they will underwrite
a new form of insurance for air line commercial travelers
which nor on ly compart·s favorahl) in cost with other forms
of travel insurance. hut if used exten~ivelv on the air lines
during the period of a year, represents a· cheaper form of
protection than is obtainable by travelers on any other form
of transportation. T his announcement has just been made
br Da' id C. Beebe, Pre~ident of the U. S. Aviation Under­"
:riters, Inc., and will .;oon be procurable everywhere. The
companic~ which will i~~ue this new insurance are the
Aetna Caliualq and Surety Compan), Century Indemnit)
Compan), !Ianford Accident and Indemnity Company,
:\Iary land C:t.;ualty Company. '\ew Amsterdam Casualt)
Compan) and Unitl•d :rate' Fidelity and Guarant) Com-pan).
The nt'\\ in~urancc, termed "airsurance," will be an
employer's voluntar) contractual liabiliq policy under
which it will be po,~ible for an employer to obtain up to
$10.000 inliurance for each employe named in the policy,
:tt a rate of $1.00 per $1,000 per year. The minimum
premium for an) one employer "'ill be $50.00, covering five
or more persons, as the employer may designate. This new
policy was developed at the request of large corporations
which have sought such a form of in~urance for their execu­tives
and other employes to encourage them to take advan­tage
of the time saved by air t raveL
This special form of aviation insurance is technicall) a
contract of indemnity agreeing to reimburse an in::.ured
employer for a ~.tated amount in case of death or injur) to
an e-.ecuti'e or emplu)e cau~ed by accident on any recog­ni:
red air line. It permib pa) ment b) the employer to an)
named employt• in the event of injur). In the e\'ent of
death, pay menr mn) be made to a relative or to an) per­!'
on appearing to the in~ured to be entitled to such payment.
"The ~ignificance of this new form of insurance is readil)
appnrent "hen one considers the hundreds of thousands of
pen~ons already using the air lines and the many thousands
"ho have been forced to forego the advantage of this form
of travel due to the high cost of insurance. Airline officials
bclie,•c that the introduction of airsurance will have an
almost immediate effect on their hu:,iness."
This is one of the most important steps taken by Insur­ance
Underwriters in the histon of ('Ommercial aviation
and wi ll encoural{c a much gre;ttcr use of air travel by
executi, cs and employes of business houses throughout the
countrr. T\V A Traffic Representati1·es will be supplied
\dth ~nmpl etc literature on AIRSURA~CE and every
opportunitl should be taken advantage of to call the atten­tion
of husincs~ house' to this new insurance program, \\'hich
brenh down one of the Ja-,t barrier:. to a free and unre­st
ric ted thC of commercial airlines for business or pleasure.
"Airsurance "as de, eloped b) aviation insurance under- ...,......
"riters after se\ era! 'ears of actuarial stud\·." :\Ir. Beebe
,aid. ''It ha-, been ~nthusia:.tically appro,:ed by air line
officials and b) man) leading corporation-..
·• Heretofore l'pt•cial air insurance co,·ering employes and
e-.ecuti\e,; ha-, hccn so costl) as to make it prohibiti,·e w
many firms, thus causing tiH':.e firm~ to forbid their emplo) cs
or c-.ecurive~ to usc tlw air line:- for busine:;s trips. Airsur-ance
"ill definitcl) eliminate this objection. Any em-plo)
er will now he able to obtain this insurance under a
blanket coveragt• and may add additional names as the
occasion demands.
3
~ l -.,1-L ) OV T :..j1S I !> N OT -,.;E.
\b'V "0 '<. ~-o; '<E,~.o<J ;-IA'E" -" N i:>
*" A z~ ~= v~- / : (/
W II AT is the real ston behind the namin!! of
T\ \'A·~ O\ ernight coa~·t to coast schedules, the
• KY C Ill EF; a mune that has become nationall)
known and is ~\ mbolic of the finest in air tra\·el, as the
RROAD\V:\ y · and CE:'\TL'RY s\mholize the utmo~t
in rail transportation? 1-J ere's the i~side story.
At a staff meeting in Kan~as City in the early part of
193+, the Regional Traffic }. tanagers and the Director of
Public Relation~ were pl:tnning the establishment of the
first overnight coast to coast ~en ice. Someone suggested it
should be gi\·en a distinctive name. Harris Beck and Park
Hay seemed to be thinking along similar lines. Harris was
thinking of "Chid" and Park was thinking about the plane
which Frank ll awks was flying for the Texa~ Company,
which was call ed the "Skv Chief." A burst of enthusiasm
ensued-it w:h in chorusi "I've got it, the SKY CHIEF."
• Lt~
As the ~tnr~ g'O<'S, Park Ha) immediately sent a telegram
w Frank Ha\\ ks, telling him in recognition of the pioneer
work \\ hich he was doing in the intcre~t of commercial
a\ iation in connection with the Texas Compan} 's SKY
CHIEF, that T\VA would like to name its deluxe coast
to coast 'en·ice in honor of hi~ famous plane and in recogni­tion
of his mml\ achie\·ement~ in the air. In less than an
hour, Frank Hawb wired as follows:
"THE TEXAS COl\IPA 'Y A~D l\IYSELF ARE
F:XCEEDI N'(;LY FLATTERED BY YOUR DESIRE
TO NAi\IE YOUR OVER IGHT SERVICE THE
SKY Cf l IEF."
So, here'~ the ~tor} of how T \ VA came in possession of
a name whid1 is the onlv airplane schedule in America that
is n:ttionall) krul\\ n and. called by its name.
TWA IN RETROSPECT-ONWARD INTO 1936
(C()nfinued from PtUJt' 2)
\ elopment in the form of a loop antenna, designed to elimi­nate
static caused O} du ... t, rain and snow, and in the month
of July, completed a de\·clopment of a four-frequcnC) crys­ta
l controlled, remote control radio telegraph receiver.
PuttinJ!: into actual practice measures to insure the opera­tion
of transports with the highest degree of safety, utiliz­ing
the various improved de\·ices emanating from the
Meteorological Departments and tested on the "laboratory
plane," T \VA institutrd during thr year a number of new
operating plans to achie\·e the purpose for which the) \\'ere
de~igned. Foremost among these measures and one which
has been heralded as a di~tinctl) advanced step in aerona­tics,
is the "flight plan" arrangement. It has created a habit
of planning dclinitel) for a future something and then of
watching with that degree of ~atisfaction which comes of
~eeing one\ per-.onal plans ripen into materialization.
Second in importance onl} to the Ai~ht plan because it
was in-tituted later, i-. another mea~ure known as the "flight
control plan" and the creation of flight comrol officer~ re­:.
pon~ible for the dispatching of plane.; throughout the
entire route.
Other measures looking to the comfort and com cniencc
of the tr;t\eling puhlic \\ere in ... tituted during the )car. One
in particular which has attracted a considerable amount of
additional patronage on T\ VA. is the routing of se\·eral
flights over the Grand Canyon and Boulder Dam. This
marked the fir~t time in history that the public was given
4
an opportunit\ to sec the Grand Canyon from the air on
reg-ula rlr schcd u led transports.
Adding anotlwr touch to passcnl!er comfort, was the
organization of the hostess training school and the establish­ment
of hostess service on every schedule along the line.
Coincidental with the hoste~s service, it was decided to go
C\'en f u nher than tht· practice follo\\·cd on extra fare trains,
hy guaranteein~ thi~ winter the comfort and trip progress
of all of T\ VA 's passengers. This all-embracing opera·
tions program pro\·ides that once a passeng-er begins his
journe) O\ er T\ VA and the trip is interrupted because of
weather conditions, all facilities necessary to complete the
trip will he provided without additional cost; such as hotel
accommodation,, mcak ta,icahs and railroad and Pullman
rharge~.
There are ~e' era I important de,·elopmcnt:> to look for­wan]
to in 1936 which ha\C e\'en· reasc:n to C"\ert an im­portant
inAuenct• on a\·iation. T .hc fir~t of these is AIR
SCRIP,\\ hich \\ill he good for tran,-portation on\ irtuall)
C\('1'\ air line in the United States, carn·ing a 151 1 reduc·
tion.undcr e-.tabli,hed oncway fares and. 11 1 under pre-.ent
round trip fare-.. AIR SCKlP will permit free interchange
btt\\l'('n all air line' and circuitous routings for the first
time in h i .. tor). It \dll be issued in two forms; tra\ el cards
and individual scrip hook,.
( Conlinul'd 1111 page 12)
7lyln9 RxflcatlvflJ fjo-ln TWA
flo-at:d and gta~~
HA \'I NG acquainted :\Ir. Roland Palmcdo, new
T\ VA Director, with our desire to introduce him
through the columns of SPEED, he replied as
follows:
"You said rou would like to introduce me in an in­formal
\\'ay t.o the T\VA personnel in the December
issue. At the outset 1 \\'Ould like to ~ay, 1 wish you
could introduce me to the T\ VA personnel personally in­stead
of through print, as I am anxious to meet as many
a:; possible of the individuals who have made T\VA the
/inc organization it is and who are the reason for the high
regard in which the line is held in the public throughout
the countr) . Some day soon, perhaps you will help me
to ~et acquainted in a more satisfactory fashion-as soon
as I can take a few dars off to fly the line."
lH r. Palmedo was ele~ted a Dir~cctor of T\VA, succeed­ing
John L. Pratt of the General Motors Corp. at the
meeting of the Board of Directors on November 26th.
Roland Palmedo
l\1 r. Palmedo's first upward climb in cl\·iation was at the
control stick when he was rna kin?: test air mail Rights for
the Navy; he climbed figuratively as a clever young banker.
being elected to Boards of Director:; here and there. He
has been associated with Lehman Bros. since 1921, since he
graduated from \ Villiams College. He has held clirector­:
ttes in the Lehman Corp., American Airplane Company,
American Airways, Pacihc Zeppelin & Transport Com­panr,
the International Zeppelin & Transport Corp., the
Toledo Glass Compan) and other corporations. In 1932
he became a Director of \ Vestern Air Express. Palmedo
is a native of Brooklrn and he is typical of the youthful
brains and personalities of. toda), who arc in positions of
5
leadership in aviation. In addition to his aviation experi­ences
and his broad training in matters financial, l\1r.
Palmedo is a Yen keen student of Public Relations and
will contribute r~uch to the Company's Public Relations
program.
Thoroughly successful in every undertaking and affec­tionately
known as "Johnny the F lying Executive," T\ VA
welcomes into its organization ]. B. vValker of Chicago, as
head of the Trnffic Department.
Born 37 years ago in Fayetteville, Arkansas, l\lr. vValker
comes to T \VA as a man wide!) experienced in transporta­tion,
advertising and general promotion work. His prin­cipal
experience in transporation was gained in his four
\ears with the Gre1·hound Lines. of which he was Vice­President
and General Traffic l\Ianager. He come;; to
T\ VA from the Beaumont & Hohman Advertising Agency
of Chicago and of which he has been a Vice-President in
charge of Sales.
\ Vhile with Greyhound, l\I r. \ Valker organized and re­organized
. He \\'as responsible for development of traffic
mer the bus line system, as well as for its advertising and
manr other phases of bus transportation work. lYiany of
his ideas, applied to that form of transportation, remain
in effect. having been tried and found true. Although his
.l. B. " .lollllny" !Pn!l·er
new field with TvVA is the world's fastest transportation
form, many of the problem~ invol\'ed in one are applicable
to the other. l\l oreover, 1\'I r. \rValker has associated fre­quently
with air transport men and is a pilot who has A own
much for business ;md pleasure.
8
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE SCHOOLS
F 0 R the benefit of those who are in other depart­ments
than the 1\il aintenance Department who would
like to know more about our l\laintenance System
Schools, and for the personnel in the l\Iaintenancc System
who are already familiar with the workings of this school,
the following explanation and progress report of the
T & \V A System Maintenance School is ~ivcn.
On September J, 1 93-+, The System Maintenance School
was organized by Mr. \V. A. Hamilton, System Mainten­ence
Superintendent. lt was the intention of ~lr. Hamil­ton
to use this school to initiate a routine system of t raining
which was to be divided into two groups.
A. System :\.laintenance Correspondence School.
B. System Maintenance Personnel School.
By having these two di,•isions it was possible for the
l\faiotenance Department to have a closer contact with
even• individual in the maintenance S\'Stem. which not onh•
incl~des the employes of the Kansas· City Base, but ever;'
individual in the maintenance system at each of the various
widely located T & \iVA Stations. This close contact with
each individual i:; brought about by the regular monthly
notice taken of each individual's record throughout the
entire system. This monthly record is kept in the office of
the System Maintenance Superintendent, and is checked
E
6
H I N D
regularly each month by the System Maintenance Superin­tendent,
and other officials of the company.
In order that ever\' individual in the T & \iVA Mainten­ance
System may ha~e the proper information on T & \VA
equipment, the 1\.Iaintenance Department issues a complete
fct of instruction circulars and manuals to alll\Iaintenance
Personnel. These circulars and manuals are kept up-to­date,
through the revision of the various circulars, or by the
addition of circulars and supplements when such additional
supplements and circulars are necessary due to changes to
or the addition of ne\\" equipment.
It was found that the issuance of circulars alone was in­sufficient,
and it was deemed necessary to form the T & WA
Correspondence School for Maintenance employes, and to
issue questionnaires to cover the various circulars issued.
These questionnaires are issued regularly the first of each
month and cover all subjects pertaining toT & \iVA equip­ment,
and are answered by all mechanical personnel regard­less
of subject and the individual's assignment. Therefore,
a man in the propeller department is required to answer
questionnaires in the radio, engine overhaul, electrical lines,
as well as those concerning the propeller department. By
this means the employe gets a much broader view of the
maintenance department as a whole in relation to the inter­connection
of the various departments and their various
problems. vVhen a mechanic is advanced to the rank of
Crew Chief or Inspector, or is transferred to another de­partment,
he is able to rapid lr and thoroughly take over the
responsibilities assigned him, and is thus a more valuable
man to the department. He is also less likely to be laid off
temporarily becau~e of work slacking tJp in his department
while there may be plenty of work in some other depart­ment.
ln answering these questionnaires, the individual first
reads the circular which covers the material concerning the
question, and then answers the question without the use of
the circul;tr. In this way, the indi,·idual gets a clearer and
more lasting understanding of the information in the cir­cular.
while the company has a check on whether or not the
individual is keeping up on the knowledge as given in the
circular. The Foreman of the Department has in this
manner an unusually good check upon his men, and especi­ally
upon those topics which relate to his department.
Ln a recent check. we averaged up all questionnaires
answered with the total number of i\ l aintenancc JVIechan­ical
Personnel and found that 97 1 1 of the l\laintenance
employes were answerin~ these questionnaires.
It is surprising when dtecking over the answers sub­mitted,
to note the great care that is taken in most cases bv
personnel :ws\\·ering these questionnaires. On the othe.r
hand, of course, there are a few that seem always to be in
a hurr~ to answer in just any \\"ay at all, and some that
persist in turning these answers in late every month. The
latter habit is expensive, a:; a 15'; penalt~ is imposed on
late papers.
The final average of good conscientious answers is ap­proximately
801 ; or better, which in turn has resulted in
c E N
increased efficiency throughout the entire J\Iaintenancc
System.
In addition to the above de~cribed system of instruction
and examination, our report would not be complete without
co,·erin{! the T & 'VA Personnel School.
This school is a general school and covers various sub­jects.
For example, there is the Nc"" .\Iechanics School, in
which e,·cn· new mechanic hi red at the Kansas Ci tv Base
is required .to take a course of instruction on compan}• rules
and regulations, and a general check-out as to the abilit)
and initiative of the individual. He is finally given an ex­i!
mination and a rating before he is considered as OK for
permanent employment.
Other schools include the one for Field ;\Ianagcrs. Lead
i\Iechanics, P erson nel at Outside Fields, etc. All Field
Managers, Lead 1\lechanics, Inspectors at outside fie lds, are
required to report to the Kansas City Base for a period of
two weeks out of each year, ""here they are thoroughly re­viewed
on the T & 'VA equipment and the general main­tenance
procedure. In this way, the i\11aintenance Depart­ment
keeps their outside field employes up-to-date on all the
various maintenance procedures.
In addition to the afore-mentioned school, there is a
Radio School wherein T & 'VA teaches and checks out all
mechanics at outside fields that have anything whatsoever
to do with the radio equipment.
For the mechanics at the Kansas City Base, the Main­tenance
Department maintains night classe5 on engines and
airplane mechanics. The latter school takes approximately
four months to complete, while the engine school takes an
average of ten weeks. This time would have to be greatly
increased if it were not for the fact that men generally at­tending
the:e classes alread) have a great dea l of experience
on general mechanics. and that they are greatly assisted by
the Instruction l\l anuals and Circulars as issued bv the
T & \VA l\Iaintcnance Department. ·
Other activities of the school include special classes for
particular instruction purposes. Recently such a class was
completed when all T & \VA Inspectors pas~ed a 65 que·­tion
examination on System Operations Circular No. 95.
Then each inspector took a check-out and passed a 25 que~­tion
examination en Radio Equipment.
The maintenance srstem school also holds a clas:. occa­sionally
for representatives of the Traffic Department. The
object of this school is to assist them with certain problems
that frequent!) arise from questions asked by passengers, or
prospective pas~e ngers en the T & \N r\ System. Usuall)
the questions asked ha,·e reference to T & 'VA Inspection.
Maintenance Procedure, or other questions ..:oncerning
T & 'VA equipment.
PILOTS SCHOOL: The :\ I aintenance Department
has from time to time loaned the services of their Personnel
Instructor or for the purpose of holding classes for the Pilot
Personnel. Recemh·, all of the Pil ots on the entire Sl stem
were checked out by. the Personnel instructor on the opera-
E
7
s
tion of T & 'VA equipment, and emergenC)' trouble­shooting
procedures in the event of radio failures. In addi­tion,
all pilots were checked out on the sending and receiv­ing
of the International l\Iorse Code. The Maintenance
Department often hold · classes for new pilots for the gen­er:
tl instruction on the location and the operation of T &
\ 1V A equipment, and the various operative units of the
Douglas DC-2 planes.
The various classes held b) the T & ' VA Maintenance
Departments go hand in hand with progress and efficiency,
each individual doing his part as efficiently as possib~e, in
putting his job- his department- his company-one more
step out in front on the path of progress. \iVhen every de­partment
st rives to be among the best, the net result will
be even progress in all departments and a 100'/~ Mainten­ance
System in efficiency and initiati,•e. This resuit can be
obtained only by each integral part of the entire organiza­tion
keeping up with the rest, and the answering of a ques­tionnaire
is as important as anr duty performed.
TWA SHOP NOTES
It lcok~ like T\VA is expecting a long lCY winter. All
Douglas sh ips are being de-iced, even tO the de-frosting of
the pilot's and co-pilot's windshields. \ Ve predict that some
time in the future, maybe not so far off, when regular
schedule stratosphere service is inaugurated, de-frosting of
the pa~senger cabins ""ill be a thing of necessity. But for
the present, we arc only de-icing the leading edge of the
wings, tail surfaces and p ropciler spinners.
Three crews have been working eight hours a day,-Roy
Kibler, lead man on days; Ho\\"ard Cornell, lead man eve­nings,
and i\ I elvin Culbertson en midnights; thus making
continuous installation.
The de-icer shoes are being manufactured by the Good­rich
Rubber Compan). In previous years the shoes were
secured to the various surfaces by the use of a rubber cement.
This year Goodrich has improved the method by using a
specially designed ri1•et called ''rivnuts." This is a mechan-
"How mt/11)' miles do you get out of tlzo~·e tires-f-"
icnl device which offers greater securit) and adds to the
convenience of installation. The shoes are inllated and
deflated b) air pressure. completing a cycle in less than a
minute; the pressure being supplied by a pump on both
motors. The complete de-icing system, installed, adds only
J25 lbs. to the weight of the airplane; 90 lbs. of which arc
removable for summer operations. \Ve are conlident that
the de-icers 11·ill be a huge success and that T\ VA will be
able to go through the winter with the much anticipated
95', Aying record.
A few evenings of unusual quietness were noted on the
evening shift while Crew Chief Spengler was on his vaca­t
it,n. Ro) went out to Southern Californ ia to play golf; so
he tells us. J oe Putman was Crew Chief on evenings during
his absence.
Karl Henkel of the " 'heel and Brake Shop, was recent!)
transferred to the Maintenance Department. Karl says he
doesn't like the odor of alcohol; it interferes with h:s
henlth. \Ve believe he must be a strong prohibitionist.
~;· ****
Howard Cornell has re igned his position ns T\VA
l\lPA reprc>entative of the Overhaul Departmer.t. Due
to the fact he is acting in a supen·isory capacity on the de­icer
evcnin{! crew. he feels that he could not devote enough
time to l\IPA obligations; also that employes of official
capacit) are restricted from being members of the Associ<:-
rion.
One afternoon last week some small school bo\'s came
walking th rough the ~hop, all richl) endowed with ~uriosity
8
and the ahilit\· to ask questions. Thev came down the
aisle looking ~P at the giant airliners ~\·ith wonderment.
Two of the less timid h,1\'S walked over to the cabin door
of a Douglas and peered i~.
"Gee, ain't that !'well." remarked the tallest boy.
" I wouldn't be afraid to ride in one of these," replied
the other.
Still prying for more knowledge, the)' climbed up the
steps anti proceeded to the front of the cabin where some
mechanics \l·cre working. A brief pause; then a succession
of que~tions.
" How do the pilots know which gadget to u~c when they
land?" " How high will these big planes go?'' '·How much
do they cost?'' Not one or two questions, but many;
ha rdly 1\·ai ting for answers.
They stayed as long as time would permit and left declar­ing
themselves boosters for T\;v' A and to be airplane me­chanics
and pilots when they grew u p.
HOSTESSES
P ersonality and refinemen t characterize T\V A's gradu­ate
hostc~ses. December 6, 1935, will be remembered a
long time as the day on which " Professor" L. A. Rainey,
instructor of the hostess school, graduated his first contin­gent
and \Valt Avery started assigning them Aights. ro
sooner had the first class graduated, 1\·hen another contin­gent
of -tO girls descended upon the so-called professor,
whose life has become just one class after another and who
had the job of instructing applicants for co-pilot positions
before he was gi1en the a~signment of converting nurses to
hostesses.
F ar and wide, the attractive uniforms worn by T\VA
hostesses, are being acclaimed. The addition of this group
of clean, fresh, attractive ~iris to the organization is inspir­ing.
Everyone feels that each and every one of them has
the qualifications, the character and the personal ity to
uphold the swndards and traditions of T\VA, and to draw
thousands of new fr iends and patrons in to the air to Ay
with TWA.
GOOD LUCK, HUGH!
The rrsignation of J-J ugh O'Brien, an emploree of Trans­continental
& \ V estern Air. Inc., throughout three and a
h_alf years, became effecti\e '\o,cmher 27th. Hi~ re~igna­uon
\\'a~ for the purpose of permittin~ him to return to his
home at East Orange. ::\ew .Terse), \\here he was to enter
busines ... with his father. D. F. O'Brien.
II ugh 0' Brien started work \\ ith T\ VA a~ a mechanic\
helprr, but his general aptitude in technical matters soon
re~ulted in the nrst of a serie:; of promotions. It was but a
brief time after entering employment with T\'V A that he
bcl'ame assistant to the foreman of pl:tnc overhaul and then
a~sistant to the chief inspector.
At the time of his resignation, hr was a 'al ued member
of the Company's engineering derartment. As such, he
acted a" con~ultant in a thousand and one technical matter"
and hi, \alue to T\V A in that capaciq long since had be­come
kno\\·n and appreciated to and b, Compan,· officials.
~ I r. 0' Brien's father for lea rs h:t~ conducted at East
Orange a high!) specialized busines" which is the manufac­ture
of special "·ater works machincn·. Since it is a case
of more machinery for Hugh, and because of the technical
~~pect of the busi~ess, it g-oe~ without saying the former
l \VA emplol e wdl be as much at home in his new line
of ende;l\ or as he was with thc air line.
" But." he said, before hi ... resignation, ''J'll ne,·er forget
thr friends I've made with T\V A and the many enjoynble
hours I hn,·e spent in working for the Compam·."
:\lr. O'Brien is one of 't'\eral indi,iduais who ha.;
pla)<'d "behind the scenes" p:trts, '-O to speak. in the inter­esting
flight career of T\VA's ~o. 300. \Vorking con­~
tarltl) with D. \ V. Tomlin~on, as~istant to P resident Jack
Fr)e, O'Brien acted in an :tdvisor) cap:tcity :tnd in his
tbual role of consu ltant in the matter of installation of
~peda l equipment under test. li e accompanied Tomlinsun,
in fact, on many of the latter's e\perimental Aights, each
designed to determine the \"alue of some form of equip­mt
·nt.
It is with regret that his resignation hereby JS an­nounced.
OH MISTER RIPLEY!
Last J ul) Mrs. Loi:-. \ Valker, acti' e 111 dub work at
Kan~as Cit) among profes,;ion:tl \\omen and who is em­plm
ed tempor:trilr in T\YA':-. acmuntin~ depanment,
went to Seattle, \Vashington, for tlw i\ational Comcnrion
of Business and Profession:~! \Vomen's Clubs. \Vhi le
tlwrr. ~he sroke over a Seattle radio ~ratio n in regard to the
w:t1 in which televi~ ion was heing handled lw a Kansas
Cit) radio station for which she has \\ ritten an·d broadcast
much.
:\Irs. \Yalker ,.tarted her return trip to K:tn~as Cin the
tollo\\ ing morning. :ince that time 'he had forgotten all
ahout the Seattle bro:tdcast, but ~he \\a' reminded of it last
\H'ek \\hen she recei,·ed a telephom• call. .-\ man's 'oice :tt
thr other end of the \\ire :tsked \\ lwthcr she was the :\Irs.
Lois \ Valkcr who had spoken last J ul) on television :tt
Kan~a~ Cit) .
9
"Yes." !\Irs. \Vnlkcr replit•d. "I am."
"\ V ell," said the \'oice on the telephone, "I'm -o-and-so,
and I heard rour talk and I\ e come back here to lind \ ou
to ask ) our ;id in telling me how I can put some mone; in
tefe, is ion here."
.After ~he had recO\ert•d from th:tt blo\\·, :\Irs. \Valker
asked the man where he was from.
" 1," s:tid the man, ''am from ~ome. Alaska!''
Hoste~s. p:tss the :-.melling ~alt:.!
WOMAN PASSENGER COMPLETES 43RD
ROUND TRIP ON TWA
\Vith the landing of the SKY C HIEF one dar la~t week,
:\ f r~. Estelle Gilbert, " ell known business woman of Los
Angeles, completed her ~3rd transcontinental round trip
\i:t T \VA, a total travclinK di~t:tnce of 217.92-J. mib.
:\Irs. Gilbert, a milliner) hu) er, m:tde her nrst buying trip
h) :tir when T'V A m:tde it~ initial transcontinental flight
on ~lay 15, 1929. Since that time, ~he has traveled thi"
line to :\ew York practicalh e\en ~ix weeks, in order to
meet the ships bearing !:ttest ~t) les from European m:trkct:..
"Tr:tvcling by ;tir i:. the onl) way we c:tn keep :tbreast
of 'ew York :tncl Europe:tn st) les," said l\Irs. Gilbert m;
,lw landed at the Grand Central Air Terminal. "Besides,
I sa1 e Ill\ comp:tm n tremendou;. amount of time and monel'
~oing this \\'a\'." . ·
Figuring that she sa\ e~ sl'\ en d:tys C\ cry time she goes on
:t hu) in!! trip to :\e\\ York h1 air. :\Irs. Gilbert e:aimates
that she has snvecl her empio) er,, The ~I a) Com pan),
appro\imatel) 301 da)" in the past seYen \ears, which is
:tlmost one year out of se\l'n. C:tkulating the \':tlue of her
time, .\l r~. Gilbert h:ts ~:tved her emplo)er~ clo~e to $8,000
in the time she has been making her style shopping trip~
\ia 1'\VA.
1lf rs. Estelle Gilbert
DECEMBER, 1935
CYCLONIC CYCLONES
\ Vhat is hclie' ed to ha,·e heen a world record for major
O\ crhaul~ of Cyclone engine:. in any one ~hop, was set up
in a recent 23-da} period ''hen forty-fi,e of the powerful
motor" of T \ VA k} liners were put through major O\'er­hauls
at T \ VA headquarters in Kansas City. The an­nouncement
of the con,ummation of this man-~i7e job was
made la~t week h} "'alter A. IJ amilton, superintendent of
maintenance, who added the time invoked amounted to
about 119 man-hours per engine.
Ob, iou~ly, the task is one '' hich could not ha' e been
accomplished without the finest and most modern of shop
equipment. Another important factor in the record-estab­lishing
job was that the twenty-nine licensed mechanics
who did the work, all have been with TvVA at least four
years, and each was-and is-thoroughly acquainted with
T \VA procedure.
As i~ cu;;tomary in the T \ VA engine overhaul, the pro­gressi,
·e method of major engine O\'erhaul was used, with
each man doing a drlinite portion of the work before pass­ing
the job along to the next individual. Each of the forty­five
engines was dismantled completely; all parts were
cleaned thorough!}, and then every single item was sub­mitted
to the customar} examination under high power
glas,es before reas~embly.
T he twenty-nine mechanic~. working under the super­,.
i,ion of G. F. \ 'an Skike, foreman of the engine O\ erhaul.
worked in accordance '' ith a -W-hour-per-week ~chedulc.
Incidentalh, the 23-da,· period in which the job was ac­compli
.. heci' repre,ented one month, since employes of
T \VA's enl!ine O\erhaul do not work on Saturday~ or
, unda) '·
In keeping with the other standards of procedure in·
volved in the \\Ork, each of the forty-fi,·e engines was on
the te~t ~tand four hours, and, in the la:,t thirtl minutes of
each engine's sta) on the test stand, it was run at its maxi­mum
of 710 hoN•power and 1950 revolutions per minute.
Final checks before removal from the stands were made by
l\1r. VanSkike, and thus was established a mark of nearh
two complete major Cyclone engine overhauls ada) for one
working month.
PUBLIC RELATIONS, WHAT?
For ph1in, old-fashioned and outright free advertising.
we refer )OU to the '\member 26th imae of the DUCKY
~E\VS.
\\' hat? You ne,er heard of the DUCKY i\E\ VS?
\Vel!, neither had we until Herr Otto Ferguson and :\Ir~.
Fergu~on proud!) di~pla}ed a cop} recently in the airport
rc:otaurant. The Dt;CKY :\E\\p, it ~eeam. is a "news­paper"
written dail) hr their 11-year-old ~on. Jack. and
circul;md IH him at the Border Star School at Kansas Cit) .
. \ pupil of .that institution, the F ergu~on ', young hopeful
daih \\rite~ <>ut in longhand his copies of the '·newspaper"
anci'it nO\\ ha~ readwd a point at which he includes comics.
Am\\ a1, the item in que,tion concerned T \\'"\ and it
folio\;~ j~a"t ao; it Aowed from youn::r Editor Fer~u~on's
pencil:
"T.\ V.A. no\\ ha~ ladies to help comfort you, so tell
\our ~ J om,, and Dads, that if the) do anr traveling do it
hy T.\ V.A., The Comfort Line."
10
SPEED
"n iAG I:\E :\ fY Ei\IBARRASS:\ I E~T!" wailed
Ethel :\ Iorehouse, "ife of P ilot Si, popular \ Vestern
RegioM ,kipper, a' she landed on the SKY CHIEF from
Kansa-. Cit\. "f fere I came all the wa1· across the countn·
on the sam~ ~hip a~ Randolph Scott and H . G. \ Veils and
didn't e\·en know it." :\ I r-.. 1 I orehouse said that she slept
practical!} all the way out and was faintly irritated when
her neighbor in the plane, a short man w·ith bristly mus­tache~.
wakened her as he fu~sed around tf1-ing to get a good
,·icw of the Grand Can}on. \Vhen the plane landed at
Grand Central Airport and ) [ rs. :\Iorehouse stepped out,
she \\as met b} a stream of kleig lights emanating from the
depot. Cameramen and ne\\'spaper reporters were lined
up ready for action. A party of motion picture star~,
headed h} Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard were
waving their "hellos," while sightseers and mo,·ie fa ns
throng-ed the termimli. "vVhy, what's going on here,
who'rc they expecting," 1\ I rs. M orehouse whispered to t he
gray-coated dispatcher. " It's Mr. H . G . 'Veils, right in
back of ) ou," ~he was informed. And to her complete
ama?',ement, 1\ I r~. l\ Iorehousc saw the mustachiocd neighbor
who had so irked her during the Aight, being photographed
for the prc~s and greeted by his celebrated friends. The
famous l\l r. \ Veils!
• •
HOW E:\ IBARASSIXG it could be you might " ·ell
imagine if } ou 01\ ned a lug-gage shop. Bill Hottel of the
Lo~ Angeles Traffic staff recenrly was successful in having
the luggage manager of the]. \ V. Robinson Com pan} place
T \VA timetables in windo\\' di~plays and with each piece
of luggage ,old. a timetable was inserted. The President
of a competing line came to visit and wandered b1· Robin­~
ons and boug-ht a bit of leather. \\'hen he opened. it at his
hotel there \\as a T \ VA timetable and a genrlc hint that
he should do his air tra\ cling that way. \ Vhen he called
the ~tore, the Department ;\1anager said that the rea~on
the timetable: was placed in the bag wa5 because he under­stood
onl} a Douglas \\'as large enough to hold the bag.
1\ [y, m~ ·-what fun we do have on the Coast!
·~ .. • .. *
A RECEl\T II £AOLTNE on the fro nt page of the
Lo~ Angeb T I 1\ I ES, august chronicler of everything
newsworthy, read: " Bah) Clipper on \ Var to \Vest Coast."
\ Vhat thest• scientists can't think up isn't worth while!
" Is t!tt sun in rour tyes, Sir!"
''.\'o ... just the radio beam."
II 'ith a/1()/ogit'.l to Cy .\' ollenberger, Columbus.
DECEMBER, 1935
1lliss Rub>• 111cCul/y
SHE'S OVER TWENTY-ONE
Miss Ruby McCully, one of the best plugger-inners who
ever reigned supreme over anyone's switchboard, almost
called a wrong nt11nber Armistice Day when she was pre­sented
a highly attractive and sizeable birthday cake as a
token that fellow employes of T'VA knew it was the fourth
anniversar~ of her joining the organization.
Actually her birthday with the Company was the pre­ceding
day, but the day before Armistice Day was Sunday,
if ~'ou recall, so the presentation was bound over by the
jury to the following day. Anyway, what's a day among
friends? The cake, baked specially for the occasion, was
topped with four candles and bore the inscription: "Ruby
McCully, November 10, 1931.''
As part of the "official" ceremony which accompanied
the gift, President .f ack Frye left his office lc;ng cnou~h to
act as official cake cutter. Other Compan) officials and
employes stood about in the lobby (which, a~ everyone
knows, is the th ronc room of Our Ruby) each wishing her
many more anni\·e rsaries with the Company and each \\'ish­ing
he had another piece of :VIiss Ruby's cake. That cake,
incidentally, was guaranteed by the baker to withsmnd the
attacks of seventy-li\·e persons, hut P resident Frye hadn't
heard of that, as anyone could sec from the size of his
slices. AI though the cake was dl·scribed as a 7 5-piece
affair, it became a memory with the forty-second slice.
Anyway, 1\Iiss l\ IcCully was surpri;:ed and delighted;
forty-two of us ate cake. and everybody survived.
' IGHT OWLS HAVE l\10\'ED into the L:;s An­geles
ticket office ar 'i..J.O \Vest 6th Street, since a 2-l--hour
basis was established. Charles B. Hobbs, Jack Ross, Bob
McCormick and Rill Prire work eight-hour shifts with
Bill ll arri~on ~pdl ing; off. vVr c.1n !l)ok for a "pants rob­bery"
most any time now !
11
SPEED
WE WISH SOMEONE WOULD take it up with the
Operating Department. The other night the Publicity
Department had to cover an arrival at 3 :00 A. l\1. Gosh
these pilots are inconsiderate of a fellow's sleep. ow let's
all get together and get the ships into terminals on time
whenever a celebrity is aboard and the Publicity Depart­ment
has to cover.
SHOE MERCHANTS I SA!\ FRANCISCO and
re-solers report a brisk business since the Traffic "wreck­ing
crew" compo~ed of Roh Montgomery, Eddie J ohnson
and Jim Pitts stormed the sea walls of the Bay to \\·ork
San Francisco and the surrounding area. To date their best
work has been to lill about 16 Dougla~-loads of prospects
\Vho, before ther went up, were a little \\'af\' of TvVA
travel; but a ftc~ they came down they stepp~d from the
ship with checkbooks and pens ready.
l\IUSIC ' •VAS IN THE AIR Saturdar. :\'ovember
30th, when radio station K~X. one of the t\;·o most pow­erful
staticns in Los Angeles a'nd admittedly the best dis­tance
station, combined with KFSO, San Francisco, and
the entire western chain network to broadcast n two-hour
program of skits, music and foolishne~s to occupants of a
T \.Y A Douglas that Ae,\· to San Francisco to make scenic
Rights. The program started at 8:15 A. M. and lasted
until 10:15 A. .M. A long-wave RCA-Victor re..:eiver
was in$talled in the plane after much cussing by L. W.
Goss and Bill Huges. Arriving over the Russ Building in
San Francisco, Pilots Bill Covle and "Doc" Whitner
..:irded the radio station where. \Varren Burke, Distri~t
Traffic Manager; H. vV. Beck, Regional Traffic 1\lana­ger,
and General Gilmore, guest speaker from San Fran­cisco,
acknowledged the sky greeting with further appropri­ate
mention of T\.Y A. \ Ve understand on reliable author­ity
that United'~ Steve Stimpson had his men around town
with snippers, cutting down radio antennae.
• • * • •
PITTSBURGH OFFICE GETS RADIO TROPHY A WARD
vVe \\'Onder how many employes of the Radio Depart­ment
h:n·e seen the very attractive radio troph) award
which is awarded to the most efficient radio station and
Rat/it, Trophy
DECEMBER, 1935
which is now safely in the hands of the Pittsburgh Radio
Department? Paul Richter sars, "The Pittsburgh Radio
Station has rendered excellent service to aircraft under con­ditions
of adverse weather and heavy airplane traffic. Their
handling of point-to-point radio message traffic has also been
excellent."
TWA MEN TO NAVAL DUTY
The VN-17-RD-9 Division of the united States 1\aval
Re!-erve will muster all hands at Fairfax Airport in Kansas
City, Kansas, for a two-weeks period of active duty begin­ning
December 1st. The entire Division is composed of
men from the T\VA Base at Kansas City, and is under the
able direction of Lieut. Commander D. \¥. Tomlinson.
YE GODS! THE DUCKS ARE SWIMMING!
Do you recall that story in the last issue of SPEED
about Les Arnold, ''Slim" Simons and the ducks? At Les'
insistence, rou remember, Slim constructed a pond for the
waterless ducks and then Slim had to buy water wings for
each duck to keep 'em from drowning.
"Well, sir," says Slim, the other night. "Do you know
1 was walkin' past their cage this mornin' and whatdye
think? In one corner of the cage was a neat pile of \\'ater
wings, the air all out of 'em, and them ducks was all sittin'
on the water, havin' a swell time. I stooped to pick up the
discarded water wings and on 'em "'as a sign:
"·Here's your blimps. \Ve don't need 'em no more!'"
Do J'OU know that Tff/ A planes are equipped with "sr,up
ct,ofers!'" This ndditionnl feature of TJif/,1 service, as
rrportnl b.1• ~ 1~:. ,1 / r(.',,l/um, was disrof•t•rnl /,y mrmbn·.,
r,f rwr with tlwrtl.•t• lrrt//ir deflrlrtllll'llt 1111 tlu•ir return fmm
the recent stoff meeting tit Philfldelphia.
12
TWA IN RETROSPECT-ONWARD
INTO 1936
( Conti11urd from pr1ge 5}
SPEED
An exceed ingly important development tn the field of
accident insurance will become effective the early part of
the year. A group of leading Casualty Insurance Com­panies
have banded themselves together to offer an accident
policy good only on scheduled air lines at cheaper rates than
have ever been issued to travelers using any other fo rm of
transportation. This insurance will be sold to corporations
on the basis of $10 per traveler per year and permits a free
and unlimited use of the air\\'ays with protection up to
$10,000 per person.
Air express will become a more important factor in
TWA's operations in 1936 as a result of negotiations which
are now being consummated with the Railway Express
Agency to group all the air lines under a single national
system to promote and develop air express traffic. The
public convenience through such a unified system with ade­quate
pick-up and delivery service in every city in the United
States, should bring about a marked increase in this service.
Among the important considerations for 1936 in which
T \VA has a paramount interest, is the Company's desire to
inaugurate direct service into San Francisco. This ambi­tion
to render service to a great metropolis, which wel­comes
more air transport facilities, has been expressed in
an application to the Interstate Commerce Commission to
establish a short cut-off from \ Vinslow to the Bay City.
This action was taken following representations made to
the Company by San Fran cisco business associations and
individuals who balked at the roundabout manner neces.~ary
to travel by air to points reached by T\,Y A and connecting
air lines. All the be:tuty and grandeur of the \Vest lies
underneath the proposed route of TvVA into San Fran­ctsco.
On this route our Skyliners would skirt Yosemite
National Park, which appears as a veritable fairyland from
the ;~ir. Mt. \ Vhitney, highest point in the United States,
can he seen from the ai r\\'ar; then Boulder Dam and the
emerald lakes of the Colorado.
In recognition of the support of hundreds cf T\VA's
friends in San Fran cisco to put T \ V A's facilities conl'eni­entl~'
at their service, the Company has opened a new office
in San Francisco at 310 Geary Street in charge of \Narrcn
Burke. So attractive is T'VA's route to San Franciscans,
even though it is necessary to use a connecting air line to
Los Angeles to connect with our Skyliners, the new office,
one of the most attractive in the City. is rendering a useful
service to the Bay Area and its usefulness and importance
ll'ill grow ll"ith the materialization of plans which the Com­pan)
is dc:l'cluping in tlw inrertst~ of thi, important nw1 rop­olis.

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TWA in Retrospect;
Forward into 1936!
Airsurance Recognizes
Safety of Air Travel
December, 1935
,
...
The Management wishes to go
further than simply expressing
the trad itional wish for a Merry
Christmas and a Happy New
Year to each and every member
of the TWA family. It takes this
means to express its cordial ap­preciation
for the many accom­plishments
during 1935 which
have been made possible by a
spirit of outstanding coopera­tion.
Your loyalty and the giving of
so much of yourself to TWA is
sincerely appreciated and it is
our hope that through that satis­faction
of work done to the best
of your ability, you will find many
reasons for making merry this
Christmas and New Year.
JACK FRYE.
MARiffiE BENNE! SPENCER LIBRAR'
of Kansas Cfty Museum
Publishnl by TRA?\SCOr-:TI?\ENTAL & WEST I~R .\ AIR, Inc.,
1775 B roadway
New York
Vol. I DECEMBER, 1935 No.3
TWA t•n
Onwa'ld into 1936/
Y annual re1 ie11 of air transportation is in itself a
record of man's successful attempt to overcome the
few remainin~ harriers \l'hich nature set up even
before the days of Adam and Eve.
A review of TvVA's record of prog ress in particular
during the )Car 1931 rea lizes the ambition of its manage­ment
to have the Co mpan~ come up in tr:lnsport histo ry
with an outstanding n·corcl of achievement in the scientific
dc1·clopm(·nt of flight during the )car just coming to a close.
At the beginning of the~ car T\V A was reaping the bcne­lits
deri1·ed from the estab li~hme n t of the first O\ ernight
coast to coast H'n icc in rhi" country, perfected in the Fall
of the preceding )Car. The linking together of the l'astl)
~cparatcd citie~ on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts with
0\ ernight ~chcd ulrs. wa~ the out~tanding development in
air transport in 193-l-. E1cn after eighteen months of opera­tion.
there arc -.till people who marvel at the very idea. and
in thi~ categon 11 c CH'n include passengers "·ho ha1·e
cro:>sed the continent 01 crnight with us.
\Vith this rich inheritance from the year before. the
Compan~ :.et about at the beginning of 1935 to ::.afeguard
it~ em iable po:-ition before the 11 orld as the fastest sen·ice
from coast to coa>-t, h1 refining its service to make it more
attracti,·e to the public, h) adding additional comforts to
air tra1·el and h, raising it$ ~chcdu l e performance to a new
high le1 el. Th:;t these amhitions were attained in part at
h·a-.t cluring tlw lir-.t ~i' montlh of 1031, i-. n·nt"cted in tlw
increase of the number of pa:-~engcr~ carried during the fir~t
and secund quarters, as well as mail and expre!'s poundage.
D urintr the second quarter, the passengers carried jumped
70.56', over the first quarter. M ail poundage showed a
137r increa~c over the first quarter and expre.~s 8.30/{ in­crease.
Tu provide for thi!> additional patronage, the
revenue miles Oown was increased from 1,680,777 miles in
the first quarter to 2,~50. +8 1 miles the second quarter,
repre~en tin tr :m increa~c of 33' ( .
During the third quarter, the curve continued upward,
with pas~t· n gcr~ sho11 ing a I 2. I 0% increase O\'er the second
quarter, and mail 1 olume increa~ing 9.69', . At the end
of tlw third quarter. the Cumpan~ announced in its Report
of Re-.ults for the nine month~ ending September 30, 1935,
a net prolit of ~212.288.08 after depreciation, interest,
taxc,. and other charges.
That T\ \'A dominates the lleld in transcontinental travel
i-. not onh C\ idenct·d b1 the fact that it leads in the ,·olumc
of throu~h coast to coast patronage, but also by the fact that
the a\"(•rage di~tance tra,·eled per pal'.~enger on T\V A is the
highe .. t on record; name!), 9-j..j. miles.
Since 1931, 369 employes ha1e been added to T\VA':.
pa) roll. r n 193 I the number of people employed \\"aS 579;
in I 932. 66-l-; in 19.33. 7 I 8, and in 193-l-, 680. There are
no11 a total of 9-l-8 t•mployes in the organization.
\ Vhile n·port:. for the lir~t clnen months on the number
of rt'l' for th(' t·lt'\L' Il months arc (J2,26.J.. The foll owi n~
DECEMBER. 1935
table show:- the number of rc1 enue passengers carried and
the mail poundagr tran"poned, !931 to 1935:
.Y 11111hl'r ,,_{ .11 ail
Ret't'lllll' P()unds
Passr11gers Carrird
1931 .............. 37,7)7 591,0+7
1932 •• 0 0 •••• 0 0 •••• 2'i,+l3 1,150.176
1933 .............. 33,913 l.IJJ,+OI
193+ .............. 36.225 796,911
I 935 ( II mpeed reco; N OT -,.;E.
\b'V "0 '
*" A z~ ~= v~- / : (/
W II AT is the real ston behind the namin!! of
T\ \'A·~ O\ ernight coa~·t to coast schedules, the
• KY C Ill EF; a mune that has become nationall)
known and is ~\ mbolic of the finest in air tra\·el, as the
RROAD\V:\ y · and CE:'\TL'RY s\mholize the utmo~t
in rail transportation? 1-J ere's the i~side story.
At a staff meeting in Kan~as City in the early part of
193+, the Regional Traffic }. tanagers and the Director of
Public Relation~ were pl:tnning the establishment of the
first overnight coast to coast ~en ice. Someone suggested it
should be gi\·en a distinctive name. Harris Beck and Park
Hay seemed to be thinking along similar lines. Harris was
thinking of "Chid" and Park was thinking about the plane
which Frank ll awks was flying for the Texa~ Company,
which was call ed the "Skv Chief." A burst of enthusiasm
ensued-it w:h in chorusi "I've got it, the SKY CHIEF."
• Lt~
As the ~tnr~ g'O to look for­wan]
to in 1936 which ha\C e\'en· reasc:n to C"\ert an im­portant
inAuenct• on a\·iation. T .hc fir~t of these is AIR
SCRIP,\\ hich \\ill he good for tran,-portation on\ irtuall)
C\('1'\ air line in the United States, carn·ing a 151 1 reduc·
tion.undcr e-.tabli,hed oncway fares and. 11 1 under pre-.ent
round trip fare-.. AIR SCKlP will permit free interchange
btt\\l'('n all air line' and circuitous routings for the first
time in h i .. tor). It \dll be issued in two forms; tra\ el cards
and individual scrip hook,.
( Conlinul'd 1111 page 12)
7lyln9 RxflcatlvflJ fjo-ln TWA
flo-at:d and gta~~
HA \'I NG acquainted :\Ir. Roland Palmcdo, new
T\ VA Director, with our desire to introduce him
through the columns of SPEED, he replied as
follows:
"You said rou would like to introduce me in an in­formal
\\'ay t.o the T\VA personnel in the December
issue. At the outset 1 \\'Ould like to ~ay, 1 wish you
could introduce me to the T\ VA personnel personally in­stead
of through print, as I am anxious to meet as many
a:; possible of the individuals who have made T\VA the
/inc organization it is and who are the reason for the high
regard in which the line is held in the public throughout
the countr) . Some day soon, perhaps you will help me
to ~et acquainted in a more satisfactory fashion-as soon
as I can take a few dars off to fly the line."
lH r. Palmedo was ele~ted a Dir~cctor of T\VA, succeed­ing
John L. Pratt of the General Motors Corp. at the
meeting of the Board of Directors on November 26th.
Roland Palmedo
l\1 r. Palmedo's first upward climb in cl\·iation was at the
control stick when he was rna kin?: test air mail Rights for
the Navy; he climbed figuratively as a clever young banker.
being elected to Boards of Director:; here and there. He
has been associated with Lehman Bros. since 1921, since he
graduated from \ Villiams College. He has held clirector­:
ttes in the Lehman Corp., American Airplane Company,
American Airways, Pacihc Zeppelin & Transport Com­panr,
the International Zeppelin & Transport Corp., the
Toledo Glass Compan) and other corporations. In 1932
he became a Director of \ Vestern Air Express. Palmedo
is a native of Brooklrn and he is typical of the youthful
brains and personalities of. toda), who arc in positions of
5
leadership in aviation. In addition to his aviation experi­ences
and his broad training in matters financial, l\1r.
Palmedo is a Yen keen student of Public Relations and
will contribute r~uch to the Company's Public Relations
program.
Thoroughly successful in every undertaking and affec­tionately
known as "Johnny the F lying Executive," T\ VA
welcomes into its organization ]. B. vValker of Chicago, as
head of the Trnffic Department.
Born 37 years ago in Fayetteville, Arkansas, l\lr. vValker
comes to T \VA as a man wide!) experienced in transporta­tion,
advertising and general promotion work. His prin­cipal
experience in transporation was gained in his four
\ears with the Gre1·hound Lines. of which he was Vice­President
and General Traffic l\Ianager. He come;; to
T\ VA from the Beaumont & Hohman Advertising Agency
of Chicago and of which he has been a Vice-President in
charge of Sales.
\ Vhile with Greyhound, l\I r. \ Valker organized and re­organized
. He \\'as responsible for development of traffic
mer the bus line system, as well as for its advertising and
manr other phases of bus transportation work. lYiany of
his ideas, applied to that form of transportation, remain
in effect. having been tried and found true. Although his
.l. B. " .lollllny" !Pn!l·er
new field with TvVA is the world's fastest transportation
form, many of the problem~ invol\'ed in one are applicable
to the other. l\l oreover, 1\'I r. \rValker has associated fre­quently
with air transport men and is a pilot who has A own
much for business ;md pleasure.
8
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE SCHOOLS
F 0 R the benefit of those who are in other depart­ments
than the 1\il aintenance Department who would
like to know more about our l\laintenance System
Schools, and for the personnel in the l\Iaintenancc System
who are already familiar with the workings of this school,
the following explanation and progress report of the
T & \V A System Maintenance School is ~ivcn.
On September J, 1 93-+, The System Maintenance School
was organized by Mr. \V. A. Hamilton, System Mainten­ence
Superintendent. lt was the intention of ~lr. Hamil­ton
to use this school to initiate a routine system of t raining
which was to be divided into two groups.
A. System :\.laintenance Correspondence School.
B. System Maintenance Personnel School.
By having these two di,•isions it was possible for the
l\faiotenance Department to have a closer contact with
even• individual in the maintenance S\'Stem. which not onh•
incl~des the employes of the Kansas· City Base, but ever;'
individual in the maintenance system at each of the various
widely located T & \iVA Stations. This close contact with
each individual i:; brought about by the regular monthly
notice taken of each individual's record throughout the
entire system. This monthly record is kept in the office of
the System Maintenance Superintendent, and is checked
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H I N D
regularly each month by the System Maintenance Superin­tendent,
and other officials of the company.
In order that ever\' individual in the T & \iVA Mainten­ance
System may ha~e the proper information on T & \VA
equipment, the 1\.Iaintenance Department issues a complete
fct of instruction circulars and manuals to alll\Iaintenance
Personnel. These circulars and manuals are kept up-to­date,
through the revision of the various circulars, or by the
addition of circulars and supplements when such additional
supplements and circulars are necessary due to changes to
or the addition of ne\\" equipment.
It was found that the issuance of circulars alone was in­sufficient,
and it was deemed necessary to form the T & WA
Correspondence School for Maintenance employes, and to
issue questionnaires to cover the various circulars issued.
These questionnaires are issued regularly the first of each
month and cover all subjects pertaining toT & \iVA equip­ment,
and are answered by all mechanical personnel regard­less
of subject and the individual's assignment. Therefore,
a man in the propeller department is required to answer
questionnaires in the radio, engine overhaul, electrical lines,
as well as those concerning the propeller department. By
this means the employe gets a much broader view of the
maintenance department as a whole in relation to the inter­connection
of the various departments and their various
problems. vVhen a mechanic is advanced to the rank of
Crew Chief or Inspector, or is transferred to another de­partment,
he is able to rapid lr and thoroughly take over the
responsibilities assigned him, and is thus a more valuable
man to the department. He is also less likely to be laid off
temporarily becau~e of work slacking tJp in his department
while there may be plenty of work in some other depart­ment.
ln answering these questionnaires, the individual first
reads the circular which covers the material concerning the
question, and then answers the question without the use of
the circul;tr. In this way, the indi,·idual gets a clearer and
more lasting understanding of the information in the cir­cular.
while the company has a check on whether or not the
individual is keeping up on the knowledge as given in the
circular. The Foreman of the Department has in this
manner an unusually good check upon his men, and especi­ally
upon those topics which relate to his department.
Ln a recent check. we averaged up all questionnaires
answered with the total number of i\ l aintenancc JVIechan­ical
Personnel and found that 97 1 1 of the l\laintenance
employes were answerin~ these questionnaires.
It is surprising when dtecking over the answers sub­mitted,
to note the great care that is taken in most cases bv
personnel :ws\\·ering these questionnaires. On the othe.r
hand, of course, there are a few that seem always to be in
a hurr~ to answer in just any \\"ay at all, and some that
persist in turning these answers in late every month. The
latter habit is expensive, a:; a 15'; penalt~ is imposed on
late papers.
The final average of good conscientious answers is ap­proximately
801 ; or better, which in turn has resulted in
c E N
increased efficiency throughout the entire J\Iaintenancc
System.
In addition to the above de~cribed system of instruction
and examination, our report would not be complete without
co,·erin{! the T & 'VA Personnel School.
This school is a general school and covers various sub­jects.
For example, there is the Nc"" .\Iechanics School, in
which e,·cn· new mechanic hi red at the Kansas Ci tv Base
is required .to take a course of instruction on compan}• rules
and regulations, and a general check-out as to the abilit)
and initiative of the individual. He is finally given an ex­i!
mination and a rating before he is considered as OK for
permanent employment.
Other schools include the one for Field ;\Ianagcrs. Lead
i\Iechanics, P erson nel at Outside Fields, etc. All Field
Managers, Lead 1\lechanics, Inspectors at outside fie lds, are
required to report to the Kansas City Base for a period of
two weeks out of each year, ""here they are thoroughly re­viewed
on the T & 'VA equipment and the general main­tenance
procedure. In this way, the i\11aintenance Depart­ment
keeps their outside field employes up-to-date on all the
various maintenance procedures.
In addition to the afore-mentioned school, there is a
Radio School wherein T & 'VA teaches and checks out all
mechanics at outside fields that have anything whatsoever
to do with the radio equipment.
For the mechanics at the Kansas City Base, the Main­tenance
Department maintains night classe5 on engines and
airplane mechanics. The latter school takes approximately
four months to complete, while the engine school takes an
average of ten weeks. This time would have to be greatly
increased if it were not for the fact that men generally at­tending
the:e classes alread) have a great dea l of experience
on general mechanics. and that they are greatly assisted by
the Instruction l\l anuals and Circulars as issued bv the
T & \VA l\Iaintcnance Department. ·
Other activities of the school include special classes for
particular instruction purposes. Recently such a class was
completed when all T & \VA Inspectors pas~ed a 65 que·­tion
examination on System Operations Circular No. 95.
Then each inspector took a check-out and passed a 25 que~­tion
examination en Radio Equipment.
The maintenance srstem school also holds a clas:. occa­sionally
for representatives of the Traffic Department. The
object of this school is to assist them with certain problems
that frequent!) arise from questions asked by passengers, or
prospective pas~e ngers en the T & \N r\ System. Usuall)
the questions asked ha,·e reference to T & 'VA Inspection.
Maintenance Procedure, or other questions ..:oncerning
T & 'VA equipment.
PILOTS SCHOOL: The :\ I aintenance Department
has from time to time loaned the services of their Personnel
Instructor or for the purpose of holding classes for the Pilot
Personnel. Recemh·, all of the Pil ots on the entire Sl stem
were checked out by. the Personnel instructor on the opera-
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tion of T & 'VA equipment, and emergenC)' trouble­shooting
procedures in the event of radio failures. In addi­tion,
all pilots were checked out on the sending and receiv­ing
of the International l\Iorse Code. The Maintenance
Department often hold · classes for new pilots for the gen­er:
tl instruction on the location and the operation of T &
\ 1V A equipment, and the various operative units of the
Douglas DC-2 planes.
The various classes held b) the T & ' VA Maintenance
Departments go hand in hand with progress and efficiency,
each individual doing his part as efficiently as possib~e, in
putting his job- his department- his company-one more
step out in front on the path of progress. \iVhen every de­partment
st rives to be among the best, the net result will
be even progress in all departments and a 100'/~ Mainten­ance
System in efficiency and initiati,•e. This resuit can be
obtained only by each integral part of the entire organiza­tion
keeping up with the rest, and the answering of a ques­tionnaire
is as important as anr duty performed.
TWA SHOP NOTES
It lcok~ like T\VA is expecting a long lCY winter. All
Douglas sh ips are being de-iced, even tO the de-frosting of
the pilot's and co-pilot's windshields. \ Ve predict that some
time in the future, maybe not so far off, when regular
schedule stratosphere service is inaugurated, de-frosting of
the pa~senger cabins ""ill be a thing of necessity. But for
the present, we arc only de-icing the leading edge of the
wings, tail surfaces and p ropciler spinners.
Three crews have been working eight hours a day,-Roy
Kibler, lead man on days; Ho\\"ard Cornell, lead man eve­nings,
and i\ I elvin Culbertson en midnights; thus making
continuous installation.
The de-icer shoes are being manufactured by the Good­rich
Rubber Compan). In previous years the shoes were
secured to the various surfaces by the use of a rubber cement.
This year Goodrich has improved the method by using a
specially designed ri1•et called ''rivnuts." This is a mechan-
"How mt/11)' miles do you get out of tlzo~·e tires-f-"
icnl device which offers greater securit) and adds to the
convenience of installation. The shoes are inllated and
deflated b) air pressure. completing a cycle in less than a
minute; the pressure being supplied by a pump on both
motors. The complete de-icing system, installed, adds only
J25 lbs. to the weight of the airplane; 90 lbs. of which arc
removable for summer operations. \Ve are conlident that
the de-icers 11·ill be a huge success and that T\ VA will be
able to go through the winter with the much anticipated
95', Aying record.
A few evenings of unusual quietness were noted on the
evening shift while Crew Chief Spengler was on his vaca­t
it,n. Ro) went out to Southern Californ ia to play golf; so
he tells us. J oe Putman was Crew Chief on evenings during
his absence.
Karl Henkel of the " 'heel and Brake Shop, was recent!)
transferred to the Maintenance Department. Karl says he
doesn't like the odor of alcohol; it interferes with h:s
henlth. \Ve believe he must be a strong prohibitionist.
~;· ****
Howard Cornell has re igned his position ns T\VA
l\lPA reprc>entative of the Overhaul Departmer.t. Due
to the fact he is acting in a supen·isory capacity on the de­icer
evcnin{! crew. he feels that he could not devote enough
time to l\IPA obligations; also that employes of official
capacit) are restricted from being members of the Associut in longhand his copies of the '·newspaper"
anci'it nO\\ ha~ readwd a point at which he includes comics.
Am\\ a1, the item in que,tion concerned T \\'"\ and it
folio\;~ j~a"t ao; it Aowed from youn::r Editor Fer~u~on's
pencil:
"T.\ V.A. no\\ ha~ ladies to help comfort you, so tell
\our ~ J om,, and Dads, that if the) do anr traveling do it
hy T.\ V.A., The Comfort Line."
10
SPEED
"n iAG I:\E :\ fY Ei\IBARRASS:\ I E~T!" wailed
Ethel :\ Iorehouse, "ife of P ilot Si, popular \ Vestern
RegioM ,kipper, a' she landed on the SKY CHIEF from
Kansa-. Cit\. "f fere I came all the wa1· across the countn·
on the sam~ ~hip a~ Randolph Scott and H . G. \ Veils and
didn't e\·en know it." :\ I r-.. 1 I orehouse said that she slept
practical!} all the way out and was faintly irritated when
her neighbor in the plane, a short man w·ith bristly mus­tache~.
wakened her as he fu~sed around tf1-ing to get a good
,·icw of the Grand Can}on. \Vhen the plane landed at
Grand Central Airport and ) [ rs. :\Iorehouse stepped out,
she \\as met b} a stream of kleig lights emanating from the
depot. Cameramen and ne\\'spaper reporters were lined
up ready for action. A party of motion picture star~,
headed h} Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard were
waving their "hellos," while sightseers and mo,·ie fa ns
throng-ed the termimli. "vVhy, what's going on here,
who'rc they expecting," 1\ I rs. M orehouse whispered to t he
gray-coated dispatcher. " It's Mr. H . G . 'Veils, right in
back of ) ou," ~he was informed. And to her complete
ama?',ement, 1\ I r~. l\ Iorehousc saw the mustachiocd neighbor
who had so irked her during the Aight, being photographed
for the prc~s and greeted by his celebrated friends. The
famous l\l r. \ Veils!
• •
HOW E:\ IBARASSIXG it could be you might " ·ell
imagine if } ou 01\ ned a lug-gage shop. Bill Hottel of the
Lo~ Angeles Traffic staff recenrly was successful in having
the luggage manager of the]. \ V. Robinson Com pan} place
T \VA timetables in windo\\' di~plays and with each piece
of luggage ,old. a timetable was inserted. The President
of a competing line came to visit and wandered b1· Robin­~
ons and boug-ht a bit of leather. \\'hen he opened. it at his
hotel there \\as a T \ VA timetable and a genrlc hint that
he should do his air tra\ cling that way. \ Vhen he called
the ~tore, the Department ;\1anager said that the rea~on
the timetable: was placed in the bag wa5 because he under­stood
onl} a Douglas \\'as large enough to hold the bag.
1\ [y, m~ ·-what fun we do have on the Coast!
·~ .. • .. *
A RECEl\T II £AOLTNE on the fro nt page of the
Lo~ Angeb T I 1\ I ES, august chronicler of everything
newsworthy, read: " Bah) Clipper on \ Var to \Vest Coast."
\ Vhat thest• scientists can't think up isn't worth while!
" Is t!tt sun in rour tyes, Sir!"
''.\'o ... just the radio beam."
II 'ith a/1()/ogit'.l to Cy .\' ollenberger, Columbus.
DECEMBER, 1935
1lliss Rub>• 111cCul/y
SHE'S OVER TWENTY-ONE
Miss Ruby McCully, one of the best plugger-inners who
ever reigned supreme over anyone's switchboard, almost
called a wrong nt11nber Armistice Day when she was pre­sented
a highly attractive and sizeable birthday cake as a
token that fellow employes of T'VA knew it was the fourth
anniversar~ of her joining the organization.
Actually her birthday with the Company was the pre­ceding
day, but the day before Armistice Day was Sunday,
if ~'ou recall, so the presentation was bound over by the
jury to the following day. Anyway, what's a day among
friends? The cake, baked specially for the occasion, was
topped with four candles and bore the inscription: "Ruby
McCully, November 10, 1931.''
As part of the "official" ceremony which accompanied
the gift, President .f ack Frye left his office lc;ng cnou~h to
act as official cake cutter. Other Compan) officials and
employes stood about in the lobby (which, a~ everyone
knows, is the th ronc room of Our Ruby) each wishing her
many more anni\·e rsaries with the Company and each \\'ish­ing
he had another piece of :VIiss Ruby's cake. That cake,
incidentally, was guaranteed by the baker to withsmnd the
attacks of seventy-li\·e persons, hut P resident Frye hadn't
heard of that, as anyone could sec from the size of his
slices. AI though the cake was dl·scribed as a 7 5-piece
affair, it became a memory with the forty-second slice.
Anyway, 1\Iiss l\ IcCully was surpri;:ed and delighted;
forty-two of us ate cake. and everybody survived.
' IGHT OWLS HAVE l\10\'ED into the L:;s An­geles
ticket office ar 'i..J.O \Vest 6th Street, since a 2-l--hour
basis was established. Charles B. Hobbs, Jack Ross, Bob
McCormick and Rill Prire work eight-hour shifts with
Bill ll arri~on ~pdl ing; off. vVr c.1n !l)ok for a "pants rob­bery"
most any time now !
11
SPEED
WE WISH SOMEONE WOULD take it up with the
Operating Department. The other night the Publicity
Department had to cover an arrival at 3 :00 A. l\1. Gosh
these pilots are inconsiderate of a fellow's sleep. ow let's
all get together and get the ships into terminals on time
whenever a celebrity is aboard and the Publicity Depart­ment
has to cover.
SHOE MERCHANTS I SA!\ FRANCISCO and
re-solers report a brisk business since the Traffic "wreck­ing
crew" compo~ed of Roh Montgomery, Eddie J ohnson
and Jim Pitts stormed the sea walls of the Bay to \\·ork
San Francisco and the surrounding area. To date their best
work has been to lill about 16 Dougla~-loads of prospects
\Vho, before ther went up, were a little \\'af\' of TvVA
travel; but a ftc~ they came down they stepp~d from the
ship with checkbooks and pens ready.
l\IUSIC ' •VAS IN THE AIR Saturdar. :\'ovember
30th, when radio station K~X. one of the t\;·o most pow­erful
staticns in Los Angeles a'nd admittedly the best dis­tance
station, combined with KFSO, San Francisco, and
the entire western chain network to broadcast n two-hour
program of skits, music and foolishne~s to occupants of a
T \.Y A Douglas that Ae,\· to San Francisco to make scenic
Rights. The program started at 8:15 A. M. and lasted
until 10:15 A. .M. A long-wave RCA-Victor re..:eiver
was in$talled in the plane after much cussing by L. W.
Goss and Bill Huges. Arriving over the Russ Building in
San Francisco, Pilots Bill Covle and "Doc" Whitner
..:irded the radio station where. \Varren Burke, Distri~t
Traffic Manager; H. vV. Beck, Regional Traffic 1\lana­ger,
and General Gilmore, guest speaker from San Fran­cisco,
acknowledged the sky greeting with further appropri­ate
mention of T\.Y A. \ Ve understand on reliable author­ity
that United'~ Steve Stimpson had his men around town
with snippers, cutting down radio antennae.
• • * • •
PITTSBURGH OFFICE GETS RADIO TROPHY A WARD
vVe \\'Onder how many employes of the Radio Depart­ment
h:n·e seen the very attractive radio troph) award
which is awarded to the most efficient radio station and
Rat/it, Trophy
DECEMBER, 1935
which is now safely in the hands of the Pittsburgh Radio
Department? Paul Richter sars, "The Pittsburgh Radio
Station has rendered excellent service to aircraft under con­ditions
of adverse weather and heavy airplane traffic. Their
handling of point-to-point radio message traffic has also been
excellent."
TWA MEN TO NAVAL DUTY
The VN-17-RD-9 Division of the united States 1\aval
Re!-erve will muster all hands at Fairfax Airport in Kansas
City, Kansas, for a two-weeks period of active duty begin­ning
December 1st. The entire Division is composed of
men from the T\VA Base at Kansas City, and is under the
able direction of Lieut. Commander D. \¥. Tomlinson.
YE GODS! THE DUCKS ARE SWIMMING!
Do you recall that story in the last issue of SPEED
about Les Arnold, ''Slim" Simons and the ducks? At Les'
insistence, rou remember, Slim constructed a pond for the
waterless ducks and then Slim had to buy water wings for
each duck to keep 'em from drowning.
"Well, sir," says Slim, the other night. "Do you know
1 was walkin' past their cage this mornin' and whatdye
think? In one corner of the cage was a neat pile of \\'ater
wings, the air all out of 'em, and them ducks was all sittin'
on the water, havin' a swell time. I stooped to pick up the
discarded water wings and on 'em "'as a sign:
"·Here's your blimps. \Ve don't need 'em no more!'"
Do J'OU know that Tff/ A planes are equipped with "sr,up
ct,ofers!'" This ndditionnl feature of TJif/,1 service, as
rrportnl b.1• ~ 1~:. ,1 / r(.',,l/um, was disrof•t•rnl /,y mrmbn·.,
r,f rwr with tlwrtl.•t• lrrt//ir deflrlrtllll'llt 1111 tlu•ir return fmm
the recent stoff meeting tit Philfldelphia.
12
TWA IN RETROSPECT-ONWARD
INTO 1936
( Conti11urd from pr1ge 5}
SPEED
An exceed ingly important development tn the field of
accident insurance will become effective the early part of
the year. A group of leading Casualty Insurance Com­panies
have banded themselves together to offer an accident
policy good only on scheduled air lines at cheaper rates than
have ever been issued to travelers using any other fo rm of
transportation. This insurance will be sold to corporations
on the basis of $10 per traveler per year and permits a free
and unlimited use of the air\\'ays with protection up to
$10,000 per person.
Air express will become a more important factor in
TWA's operations in 1936 as a result of negotiations which
are now being consummated with the Railway Express
Agency to group all the air lines under a single national
system to promote and develop air express traffic. The
public convenience through such a unified system with ade­quate
pick-up and delivery service in every city in the United
States, should bring about a marked increase in this service.
Among the important considerations for 1936 in which
T \VA has a paramount interest, is the Company's desire to
inaugurate direct service into San Francisco. This ambi­tion
to render service to a great metropolis, which wel­comes
more air transport facilities, has been expressed in
an application to the Interstate Commerce Commission to
establish a short cut-off from \ Vinslow to the Bay City.
This action was taken following representations made to
the Company by San Fran cisco business associations and
individuals who balked at the roundabout manner neces.~ary
to travel by air to points reached by T\,Y A and connecting
air lines. All the be:tuty and grandeur of the \Vest lies
underneath the proposed route of TvVA into San Fran­ctsco.
On this route our Skyliners would skirt Yosemite
National Park, which appears as a veritable fairyland from
the ;~ir. Mt. \ Vhitney, highest point in the United States,
can he seen from the ai r\\'ar; then Boulder Dam and the
emerald lakes of the Colorado.
In recognition of the support of hundreds cf T\VA's
friends in San Fran cisco to put T \ V A's facilities conl'eni­entl~'
at their service, the Company has opened a new office
in San Francisco at 310 Geary Street in charge of \Narrcn
Burke. So attractive is T'VA's route to San Franciscans,
even though it is necessary to use a connecting air line to
Los Angeles to connect with our Skyliners, the new office,
one of the most attractive in the City. is rendering a useful
service to the Bay Area and its usefulness and importance
ll'ill grow ll"ith the materialization of plans which the Com­pan)
is dc:l'cluping in tlw inrertst~ of thi, important nw1 rop­olis.